Interior Secretary: Cliven Bundy Will Be Held Accountable

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, whose states-rights battle with the government to graze his cattle on public lands thrust him into the national spotlight, will be held accountable for the armed standoff his fight triggered with federal officials, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says.

"Cliven Bundy has had multiple court orders to remove his cattle from federal public lands and he has not paid his grazing fees and he has not abided by the law,"Jewell told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"We will continue to pursue that."

Speaking ahead of her appearance at the Western Governors' Association meeting in Incline Village, Nev., earlier this week, the Obama administration official refused to put a deadline on any action, however, the newspaper reports.

"The wheels of justice move at their own pace,"Jewell said. "I am confident this issue is going to be appropriately resolved."

In April 2014, dozens of armed supporters of Bundy, whom the Bureau of Land Management claims owes $1 million in grazing fees over the past 20 years, showed up at his ranch as federal authorities tried to round up his cattle.

After a tense standoff, federal officials backed down and Bundy's cattle were released back to the range.

"The safety of our law enforcement officers and the safety of people that represent land managers at every level is of paramount importance to me,"Jewell told the newspaper.

On the year anniversary of the standoff, Bundy supporters threw a "Liberty Celebration" and featured a barbecue with beef from Bundy's land, patriotic music, cowboy poetry, off-roading and shooting.

"We the people stood with them, and Mr. Bundy got his cows back, and he's got his ranch, and BLM's gone," Robert Crooks, founder of the Mountain Minutemen, told NPR.

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, whose states-rights battle with the government to graze his cattle on public lands thrust him into the national spotlight, will be held accountable for the armed standoff his fight triggered with federal officials, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says.